Consideration and Calculations in the design of an Auto-Regulating Solar Dryer for Variety Seedlings Production

Abstract: Scarcity of seedlings of several crop varieties during each farming season, impacts negatively on agricultural production in Nigeria. Uncontrolled sun drying in the open and uncontrolled solar drying render excessive heat to the seeds thereby killing the embryo and making the seeds good for consumption only. Over the fire grate drying practiced by peasant farmers do not provide enough seeds for cultivation. The lack of technologies for commercial seedlings production is a setback to crop production in Nigeria. An auto-regulating solar dryer for variety seedlings production was designed at National Engineering Design Development Institute (NEDDI), Nnewi, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), the Presidency, Abuja, Nigeria. It is a requisite technology to curb excessive drying and consequent destruction of seed embryos. The automatic regulation enables the production of healthy seedlings for cultivation. Maize is employed as the grain sample in the design. The equipment can readily process other grain varieties once the requisite settings are adjusted. All aspects of engineering design as a many-sided and wide-ranging activity were covered in the holistic design but this work presents the design with pertinent considerations, constraints and calculations in the key arrears of dryer design like: air densities, drying rates, moisture content to be dried, mass and heat transfer and the quantitative determination of the solar energy to achieve drying in the area occupied by the seeds. Keywords: Design, Dryer, Solar, Seedlings, Auto-regulating, Calculations. Title: Consideration and Calculations in the design of an Auto-Regulating Solar Dryer for Variety Seedlings Production Author: Arinze W. Nwosu, Patricia U. Chukwu, Michael C. Amonye International Journal of Novel Research in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering ISSN 2394-9678 Vol. 10, Issue 1, September 2022 - August 2023 Page No: 54-62 Novelty Journals Website: www.noveltyjournals.com Published Date: 19-January-2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7552010 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.noveltyjournals.com/upload/paper/Consideration%20and%20Calculations-19012023-2.pdfInternational Journal of Novel Research in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, ISSN 2394-9678, Novelty Journals, Website: www.noveltyjournals.co